


To Stay With You

by Luna_Myth



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Butterfly Miraculous, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Devotion, During Canon, F/M, Fainting, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Mutual Pining, Peacock Miraculous, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23827765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Myth/pseuds/Luna_Myth
Summary: The broken Peacock Miraculous hurts the wearer, but that doesn't mean the wearer always owns up to it. Gabriel notices, though.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 11
Kudos: 68





	To Stay With You

**Author's Note:**

> so that season three, huh? anyway here's wonderwall

Nathalie didn’t look well, Gabriel noticed. She was working at her station in his office, quietly sorting through designs and emails and maintaining the day-to-day operations of their business--nothing he did would be possible without her, after all, so in Gabriel’s eyes his brand belonged to her as much as to him--but she seemed distracted. Her eyes were glazed, and her face was pale. There was a delay to her actions, a lag in her usual efficiency. She hadn’t even noticed him looking at her, which was unusual for her. She was normally a quite perceptive person. 

“Nathalie?” She looked up after a few seconds and focused on him with some difficulty. “Are you alright?” 

Her gaze sharpened. “Of course, sir.” 

Gabriel wasn’t sure he believed her, but he nodded, awkwardly returning to his design work. “Carry on then.” 

A few minutes later, he heard a sudden intake of air from across the room and looked up to see his personal assistant holding her head with one hand and clutching the edge of her work station with the other. 

“Nathalie?” he asked once again, setting down his stylus and starting to make his way over to her. 

“I’m fine, sir,” she insisted, throwing out the hand not holding onto the desk to stop him. 

Gabriel froze. “You’re quite sure?” 

“Yes.” She let go of the edge of the desk and turned toward her screen, not meeting his eyes. “Just a headache.” 

Gabriel frowned but retreated back to his own desk. “You know if you’re not feeling well, you’re more than free to go home, Nathalie.” 

“No!” 

Gabriel jerked away from where he was swiping through designs, looking for one to work on. He stared at Nathalie in surprise, having not expected such a strong reaction. She was usually very reserved and not prone to shouting at all. She rarely needed to raise her voice to get his attention anyway. He trusted her and her recommendations implicitly. 

“No, sir,” she added quickly, clearly trying to tone down her response. “I see no reason for me to go home just yet. Besides, there is still work that must be done.” 

“As you say,” Gabriel acknowledged. Secretly he was glad she had decided to stay, for reasons far beyond the fact she was essential to his getting anything done. He missed her when she wasn’t there, which hardly seem an appropriate way to feel toward one of his employees, but to call her merely one of his employees was reductive in the extreme. She was his confidante, his literal partner in crime, and the closest thing he had to a friend. Gabriel Agreste could count the number of people he truly cared about on one hand, but Nathalie Sancoeur was one of them. 

Half an hour passed, and Gabriel finished designing the dress he’d been working on. He glanced at Nathalie and saw she hadn’t moved from her spot. Usually she would have gone to arrange lunch or do some other vital task by now. 

“Don’t you have something you’re supposed to be doing right now?” Gabriel asked, raising an eyebrow at her before realizing how incredibly rude that sounded. Normally he didn’t care how others perceived him, but this was Nathalie, his one ally and friend. He did not wish to do anything that would damage that relationship. 

Nathalie visibly startled and grabbed her desk for support. “Yes,” she said immediately before attempting to compose herself. “Of course, sir.” 

Gabriel’s brow furrowed, and he started to make his way over to her again. “Nathalie, are you sure you’re alright--”

She frowned and released her grip on the desk. “Yes, I’m perfectly fine, see--”

She made it two steps away from her desk before her knees started to buckle. Gabriel leapt forward to catch her, his heart sinking as she collapsed into his arms. This was not the first time he had been forced to catch her, and he was afraid it wouldn’t be the last. The Peacock Miraculous had been having this effect on her for weeks now, but Gabriel couldn’t get her to stop using it. 

Without the help of his own Miraculous, it took some effort to support her. Gabriel was not a particularly strong man on his own--in fact he suspected he was somewhat weaker than most--but the Butterfly Miraculous granted various physical abilities to its owner just like every other Miraculous. This had allowed him to carry her in the past, but since he wasn’t transformed now, it didn’t do him any good. Gabriel looked around for the nearest chair. 

“Nathalie,” he said, feeling his grip start to slip and himself start to panic. “Can you hear me?” 

Her eyes were dazed and unfocused, unresponsive. Her breathing was unsteady, air slipping between her lips in ragged bursts, and perhaps most worryingly her skin felt hot beneath his hands. She almost certainly had a fever. 

“Nooroo, dark rings rise,” he whispered. Even he was not so foolish as to shout his transformation phrase where people could hear him. If anyone other than Nathalie became aware he was Hawk Moth, it would be nothing short of catastrophe, but he needed the strength the transformation lent him to carry Nathalie. 

He picked her up easily now, one arm around her shoulders and the other beneath her legs, and as quickly as he could without being too rough he carried her over to a chair and set her down. She stirred slightly at the movement, her eyes struggling to focus. 

“Nooroo, dark wings fall.” 

Gabriel Agreste stood staring at his assistant once again, for once unsure what to do. He was moving to crouch beside her when she spoke. 

“Be careful, sir,” she said faintly, her gaze still vague. “Transforming like that...someone could walk in.” 

“That’s far from the point now, isn’t it?” he replied, brow still creased with worry. For lack of a better idea, he took her hand. “You have a fever. Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Didn’t want you to send me home...sir.” She looked about to fall asleep, and Gabriel was suddenly terrified that if she did she would never wake up. “Wanted to stay with you.” 

“Yes, stay with me,” Gabriel found himself saying. “Stay awake, Nathalie. I’m worried about you.” Both his hands covered the one of hers nearest him. He gave a light squeeze, silently urging her to look at him. 

She did. “For you, Gabriel. Only for you.” Her eyes, still glassy, pierced him with surprising intensity. He didn’t know what to say. 

“I-I’m not sure I’ve heard you call me my name before,” he said, now very aware that he was still holding her hand. “Perhaps you should consider doing so more often. I don’t mind.” In fact, he liked it very much, but he had no idea how to say that, and it couldn’t possibly be a good idea to tell her anyway. It was all too complicated, too messy. 

“Gabriel,” she said, like a test, like she was practicing. She blinked, and she seemed to really see him for the first time in a while. “Would you believe me if I said I feel less dizzy now?” 

“Not enough to let you stand up,” he said, but he couldn’t stop a brief smile from crossing his face. “I’m glad to hear it, though. That eases my worries considerably.” 

If she had lost consciousness, he was afraid to think of what he would have done. He would have panicked most likely, and called a doctor, and since inviting people into his house was something he was loathe to do, he would likely have become even more irritable, to the displeasure of everyone around him. In short, it would have devolved into a whole incident, but that was nothing compared to the terror he had felt at the thought of Nathalie never waking up. With her looking somewhat more alert, although still feverish, Gabriel could feel his heart rate returning to something approaching normal. 

He let go of her hand and stood up abruptly. “I’m going to get you water,” he said, although the words felt foreign in his mouth. He suspected it had been a long time since he’d volunteered to do something on someone else’s behalf. It was not something that came naturally to him. “I suggest you remain seated while I’m gone.” 

Nathalie raised an eyebrow at him, but there had been a momentary flash of--something when he’d let go of her hand. For the life of him, Gabriel couldn’t figure out what it was. 

“Thank you, sir,” was all that she said. 

Gabriel hurried from the room straight towards the kitchen. It wasn’t often he ventured there himself, but he wasn’t completely ignorant of its layout. He managed to fill a glass with water and informed the kitchen staff he would not be showing up to lunch before retreating back to his office. 

“Here,” he told Nathalie, handing her the glass. She hadn’t moved from where he’d left her, which was some small relief. He felt so out of practice at caring for other people--he couldn’t quite remember how it worked. 

She took the glass and sipped it carefully, watching Gabriel the whole time. “Are you going to send me home, sir?” she asked, her expression guarded. 

Gabriel hesitated. “No,” he said finally. “Not if you don’t want me to. Not when you can stay here just as easily. I’m sure you’re aware we have a guest bedroom, if you’d like to take it.” 

“I would,” she said immediately, an unusual vehemence to her voice. When she saw the flicker of surprise on Gabriel’s face, her expression softened almost imperceptibly and she said, “I told you, sir, I would prefer to stay here with you.” 

Gabriel’s breath caught for a moment as he took in that statement. “Well, it’s very fortunate then that I would also prefer you stay here with me.” He glanced at Nathalie before looking away. Her face was as serious as ever, but his felt liable to give something away, some feeling he couldn’t allow himself to name. “You can stay here as long as you require.” 

“Thank you, Gabriel.” 

“Think nothing of it.” The sound of his name from her lips made him feel too warm and too cold at the same time. He had given her permission to call him by it, but it seemed he had underestimated its effect. 

Gabriel silently composed himself and finally looked back at Nathalie. Her gaze was steady now, and she was looking at him with an air of perfect calmness, like there was nowhere else she would rather be and nothing else she would rather be doing. The moment stretched on for what could have been fifteen seconds or several minutes. Gabriel couldn’t tell. 

“Well, anyway,” Gabriel said at last, “I have to get back to work.” He turned and went back to his desk, preparing to return to his designs, but he hesitated, feeling the need to say something else but unsure how. 

“Nathalie?” 

“Yes?”

“If you…”--he paused uncertainly--”require my--assistance for any reason…you need only ask.” Internally he scowled in frustration with himself, but Nathalie’s expression brightened, so subtly most people wouldn’t have noticed, but Gabriel hadn’t known her as long as he had to remain unable to read her. That feeling of being too warm and too cold at the same time hit him again. 

“I will,” she said, one corner of her mouth quirked upward. 

“Good.” Gabriel returned to work. 


End file.
